The Black Dog in Life.

I recently came across the I had a Black Dog, his name was Depression campaign for World Mental Health Day by the World Health Organisation in collaboration with Matthew Johnstone.

As a fellow sufferer of depression and anxiety, I was lucky to have sought help before things got out of hand. I was fortunate to have been aware of my symptoms, as depression was common in my family history. Having been educated at a young age on the symptoms and stigma of depression I never felt ashamed to admit that I have depression to those around me. In fact, when I shared my experience with my close friends, all I got was more love and support!

It has been slightly over a year since I was diagnosed with it and I am still on regular medication. I was born with this gene/hormonal defect – like my mum and her mum before her, our brain doesn’t produce enough endorphins to keep us happy. Everyone has ‘flaws’ and the most important aspect of life is for us to be able to love ourselves for who we are.

As the video suggests, we should never have to hide the black dog from our life and pretend that it doesn’t exist. We must learn to live with our flaws, live with who we are, accept ourselves and most importantly, to love yourself. Only by facing our problems could we hope to overcome them. This does not only apply to having mental health issues, but applies to all the obstacles that we face in life. Mental illness is simply an obstacle in life that is meant to be overcome, not something that we should end our life with.

So here’s the video, and I sincerely hope that this would help those who are in need of some emotional enlightenment.